Monday, June 4, 2012

The Backroads of Provence

Do you like to take the backroads?

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Or are you a zoom-up-the-highway kinda person?

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There's something to be said about getting there sooner (especially when you leave the house late which always seems to be the case with us) but for the most part we take the scenic route.

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We'd be crazy not to with all this goodness around us here in Provence.

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Our 6 yr old sometimes gets carsick, the poor poppet. After the Great Corsican Vomiting Incident of 2010 we take the highway if she's having a bad time of it.

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Those roads sure are windy in Corsica (and devastatingly beautiful). She'd told us she was feeling ill but we were only 10 kms away from the village where we were stopping for lunch, so we decided to push on.

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We were about 800m from the village when she ralphed all over her lap, her carseat and the floor (who knew such a small girl could produce so much vomit?) The heady perfume almost set her brother off too.

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Just thought I'd share that.

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But usually, we take the backroads. Have to enjoy the journey, right?

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Linking up with Design Mom's Love the Place You Live, where you can find more travel stories (hopefully with less vomit).

21 comments:

Susan said...

Oh, those poppies!!!!! It's about the journey, not the destination, isn't it? (preferably without the vomit!) Must have been the time for it- a boy from my homeroom did the same thing today! Luckily for me I only witnessed the sawdust aftermath!

Mark said...

Yeah, um, thanks for sharing that "lovely" story. ha!
I love taking the back roads. When I visit my parents, on my own, I will drive through a few old towns to get there instead of the highway which is faster. It's horribly depressing since the towns are dying but it's still Home to me. And not a flower in sight.
Your Friend, m.

B said...

Beautiful photos - I fell in love with the fields of poppies when we were there, something inherently romantic about them I think.
I never get car sick but I am a sympathy spewer so I feel for your boy!
x

Devon said...

The back roads are the only way to travel,,and I perfer to drive instead of fly when I can,,you miss so much beauty when you fly..love the fields of poppies beautiful..sorry to hear about the car sickness,,my oldest son did that coming back from Germany on the plan like 10 minutes before we landed..

Nicola said...

We were minutes away from having the same story to tell in Corsica - we now know why the rental car deposits were so high there!

Anonymous said...

I can relate to your vomit-in-the-car situation. I've got a few little ones with the same problem and it can be like dominos when one starts. Ick. Love the photos. Provence is such a dreamy place (minus all those dang tourists in the summer!).

Sandra said...

The girl never got carsick until a few months ago - something about being six perhaps? The windy roads'll do it EVERY time. But we must persevere with our adventures, right?

Love the poppy photos. Waiting here on the west coast of Canada for the drizzle to let up so I can get out and take some poppy photos.

Ren- Lady Of The Arts said...

what lovely photos I love the poppy fields

Salley said...

WE regularly take unplanned back roads if on an excursion . . . because the hubs never takes the correct exit. We are just back from 4 days along the sth coast . . you'd think we could do that . . . after all. . .its the road or the ocean . . and yes he took the wrong exit AGAIN! It sometimes has its upsides . . 2nd hand shops and cafes!

Your photos are glorious as always.

Katie said...

Awesome photos :) Are those snails in the picture after you talk about your daughter getting sick? If so - I've never seen so many snails in one place!

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

so sorry for your little one, but you do take the most amazing photos

Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts said...

I know! I thought the same thing, but they're all over the place in the fields here at the moment. It's like they climb up to the highest point and then die, very bizarre. They are fairly small and always white - I thought I'd throw that photo in hoping someone would know what's going on!

SkyMommy said...

Absolutely breathtaking photos.

I used to be a total highway girl until my husband and I did a Route 66 trip last summer. It was one of the best trips of my life and I completely fell in love with the magic of back roads. It really is the best way to get anywhere.

debway said...

It all looks so beautiful! We are heading to Provence for a week at the end of June - what are your top recommendations to do? We will be renting a villa with another family (4 adults & 4 girls) that are visiting us here in France. I haven't spent much time in Provence (well, we did just move to France at the end of Dec!) and am not sure what are the "not-to-be-missed items". Thank you so much for any help.

Marg said...

Geez Kirsty i waited to read this afterI had eaten dinner, I can't win.
I'll try to get that picture out of my mind and concentrate on the beautiful poppies.

Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts said...

Phew, that's a hard one. So much to see and I don't really know what you fancy. But I always recommend some time in the Luberon Valley - it's spectacular and so Provence (lavender, rolling hills, hilltop medieval villages). Avignon is also wonderful, if you have a thing for Van Gogh there's Arles, and of course Aix-en-Provence deserves at least a day so you can wander and eat and enjoy. Then there's the seaside - big, bustling Marseille or small, laid-back Cassis. Can you see the trouble I'm having here! And I know I've missed something.
I recommend you click on my posts labelled 'travel' and see what takes your fancy. Also have a peak at the other Provence expat blogs you'll find over on my blogroll. Enjoy planning and have a wonderful trip!

Charissa said...

Wow! I would risk the vomit and take the back roads too if they looked like that. Love your pictures!

Sara Louise said...

I hate the back roads because car sickness is just another thing I have in common with your little girl... Hello Kitty, hot pink pants, and car sickness... we're a cute pair. x.

Katy Cameron said...

I *love* the back roads, well, until someone comes whizzing round the corner and there's not room for both of us o.O My one really bad car sickness incident was in Provence, ironically not on a windy road, but just coming in to Ile Sur La Sorgue, which was when we discovered that cherries for breakfast wasn't such a hot idea ;o)

Kat said...

Hey, Kirsty! I've just fallen in love!... with your blog, which I discovered via DesighMom. We have a three year old niece who used to get violently car sick... until her parents tried SeaBands. ( http://www.sea-band.com/ ) They work for little Riley so maybe you could give them a try.
I'm inspired to take the back roads all summer long... thanks to your suggestion.

L o v e l y t h i n g s said...

Oh my....so beautiful...how could you NOT take the back roads?

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